Pedestrian’s death fuels Moira traffic concerns

The death of a pedestrian at the Moira Roundabout on Glenavy Road has prompted a call for a fresh look at ways to control heavy traffic flow in the area.

The call came from Councillor Alexander Redpath, who said that while police were still investigating the circumstances of the death, he believed Transport NI should be looking at ways of reducing commuter traffic nearMoira.

The pedestrian was killed after being struck by a lorry at around 7.30am last Wednesday morning (December 23).

Police closed the A26 Glenavy Road road for several hours while specialist investigators examined the crash scene before the road was reopened around 1pm.

It was cordoned off again between 7pm and 8pm on Wednesday night to facilitate an accident reconstruction.

A police spokesperson appealed for eyewitnesses to come forward.

“Anyone who was travelling on this road who may have witnessed this RTC is asked to contact police at Lisburn/Collision Investigation Unit at Sprucefield on 101,” he said.

Mr Redpath, meanwhile, said he was particularly concerned given that another pedestrian had also been knocked down in a similar incident not so long ago.

“I was shocked to hear of the death of a man in the vicinity of the Moira Roundabout,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers should be with the family at this very difficult time, especially as the incident took place in the run up to Christmas.

“Another incident in similar circumstances occurred a while ago. I hope that Transport NI will give careful consideration to that can be done to improve safety.

“The volume of traffic on the roundabout will present significant challenges to any efforts to improve safety.

“One way of alleviating the levels of traffic at this roundabout would be renewed consideration of a second motorway exit north of the village to reduce congestion at the Moira Roundabout and traffic at that end of the village.”

Mr Redpath went onto say, “The Moira Roundabout is an extremely busy road and any pedestrians should exercise caution if walking in the area.

“There are no crossing points at any of the road junctions, which should be kept in mind if planning a route in the area.

“Realistically most, if not all, walkers should avoid traversing the area as it is not designed for pedestrian traffic.”

Earlier this year, Transport NI said it could not justify spending up to £40m on a bypass but would instead look at other ‘traffic options’ for Moira, to include setting up a traffic model which would identify options to relieve traffic

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